


Steal the Glamour from Death

by smaragdbird



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Gen, Major Character Injury, Waiting, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 13:32:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9899384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smaragdbird/pseuds/smaragdbird
Summary: Resistance members always tease Poe about how dedicated he is to the cause, how much he idolizes Leia and wouldn't think twice about taking a bullet for her and dying dramatically in her arms, just like in the holos.It's all good fun until it really really isn't.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this ](http://tfa-kink.dreamwidth.org/3467.html?thread=7642507#cmt7642507) prompt

You’re going to die in your best friend’s arms  
And you play along because it’s funny, because it’s written down,  
You’ve memorized it, it’s all you know.  
I say the phrases that keep it all going,  
And everybody plays along.  
Imagine:  
Someone’s pulling a gun, and you’re jumping in the middle of it.  
You didn’t think you’d feel this way.  
“Planet of love” – Richard Siken

Just when he said down at the table Jess pretended to faint and fell dramatically into Snaps’ arms. 

“Are you hurt?” Snaps asked with mocked worry.

“Don’t worry about me, General”, Jess declared dramatically. “Knowing that you are safe will heal my insignificant wounds.”

“Keep your eyes on me. Help is coming.”

“I can’t think of a better end than dying in your arms.” Jess exclaimed with such vigour that the rest of the table howled with laughter.

Poe crossed his arms over his chest. “I hate you guys.”

“That doesn’t mean Jess isn’t right”, Karé said and elbowed him in the side.

“You should add something about how General Organa made his life worth living”, Iolo suggested.

“And that she’s the love of his life”, Finn added.

Poe turned and glared at his boyfriend while Jess asked, “I thought that was you.”

Finn grinned and shook his head. “I’m like fourth place. First there’s General Organa, then there’s flying, then comes BB8 and then it’s me.”

Poe was about to say something along the lines that none of the things Finn had counted above him had mocked him today, when BB8 told them that Poe had a poster of Leia.

Snaps grinned at Finn. “Guess you’re number three now.”

“I’m never speaking to any of you ever again, especially not you”, Poe added and glared at BB8.

“Then I better think of something appropriately moving to say at your funeral”, Leia said from behind them, resting a hand on Poe’s shoulder.

Poe blushed to the amusement of everyone and said, “That’d be an honour ma’am.”

Her laughter was worth the humiliation any day.

/

The thing about blaster hits that the holos always got wrong was that they were designed to incapacitate immediately. Even if the wound itself was not fatal the blast was able to render most species in the galaxy unconscious. Most armour was actually meant to keep that from happening instead of reflecting the blast itself. In real life there were no last words as you lay dying in your comrades’ arms.

You went down quick and you stayed down. Blaster bolts burned hot so there was usually not any blood to show how badly you had been hit. In most battles there was no time to take care of the wounded so either you held on until the end or you died. 

If you were really unlucky you would regain consciousness before either happened. You might even think you were fine because the blaster bolt had seared your nerve endings. You wouldn’t feel any pain. You would try to get up, to keep fighting, to find help and you might be fine or you might aggravate your injuries and die of internal bleeding before you even knew something was wrong with you after all.

If you were lucky you wouldn’t wake up. Your unconsciousness would last until you were found and then you’d be put under and other people would fight for your life while your friends and family waited and waited and waited. And you wouldn’t notice any of it until it was certain that you would live.

Leia looked ten years older sitting in one of the uncomfortable chairs that line the waiting room of the infirmary wing. She had never dealt well with waiting. Usually she did something, anything but sit around and wait. But this time she couldn’t ease her mind away from the situation at hand. She couldn’t distract herself with work. This wasn’t a situation she could improve by giving orders or analysing new intel or make up a plan. The last time she had felt this helpless she had been imprisoned in a cell on the Death Star after seeing her home planet destroyed and having been tortured at the hands of Darth Vader.

Luke blamed himself. He had spent too long in exile, had let his instincts dull until he hadn’t been able to feel the malicious intent of an assassin until it had been too late. Just like he hadn’t been able to see Ben’s intentions until it was too late. And it was never him who paid the price. He reached out in the Force and felt Poe’s life flicker like a candle in the wind. Luke wanted to hold on to it, but it kept slipping through his fingers. Shara had died too young too. And now he couldn’t help her son just like he had been unable to safe her.

Jess had made herself very small, her knees drawn up to her chin. She hadn’t stopped crying yet. Tears kept falling down her cheeks and not all sobs could be silenced by the hands she had pressed over her mouth. It had been just a joke, she thought desperately. It had just been a stupid joke. Despite her age she was no stranger to losing people. But they usually died in battle. Quick and violent deaths when their ships exploded or crashed. Nothing like this. Not so drawn out, not so slow. It had just been a stupid joke.

Temmin rested a hand on Jess’ back but he couldn’t bring himself to comfort her. Not that there was any comfort to give at the moment. Not until they got news. Waiting was a strange sort of limbo where there was no grief and no relief. Of course Poe had done what he had done. It had been a standard joke amongst the Resistance that Poe Dameron would just about anything for General Organa. It had been a stupid joke.

When Poe had brought her and Iolo and Muran to Yavin the first time she had seen Leia Organa’s poster in his childhood bedroom and had teased him about it. It had been the first time but not the last. Iolo had picked it up quickly enough and eventually even Muran had gotten in on it as well. At the time it had seemed harmless. Just a joke. But here she was and Poe’s life was hanging in the balance because he had acted like the main character in one of those stupid holo-soaps Muran had liked. They had teased him about that too and Muran had died.

Iolo wished he had kept his mouth shut. He had seen the assassin first and he had called out Poe’s name, not General Organa’s. He had alerted Poe first because that was what he had done for years. Poe was his friend and his commander and Iolo was used to following his lead. So he had called out Poe’s name and Poe had decided to jump between the assassin and General Organa because of course he would. What else could’ve Iolo expected him to do? If he had only kept his mouth shut, Iolo thought and was unable to look at General Organa.

If Finn hadn’t held on to her hand so hard that she barely felt her fingers anymore, Rey would have paced. Sitting here and waiting reminded her why she hadn’t let anyone get close to her on Jakku. People always hurt you if you let them close one way or another. But when she had met BB8 and Finn and Han and Chewie it had been easier to let them in than to keep them out. Poe just had to follow them through an already open door and he had. It had been easy to like him. Just like it had been easy to like Han. Her family had left her from one day to the next and so had Han. And so might Poe.

If it hadn’t been for his iron grip on Rey’s hand one could’ve thought that Finn was a statue. He sat in his chair straight as a plank and his face unmoved. That was what he had been taught in the First Order to be in control of his emotions under duress. They hadn’t taught him well, he had slipped up again and again, his emotions had proven stronger than their teachings. Right now there were too many too contradictory emotions inside him so he tried to keep them in until...until the answer to his prayers or the until the realization of his nightmares.

The approach of the medic led to a moment where everyone held their breath and it was as if for a moment the universe itself stopped moving. She was a professional and her face betrayed no emotion as she gave them the news.

Finn hid his face in Rey’s shoulder as he started crying and Rey wrapped her arms around him as she pressed a kiss to his hair. Iolo collapsed against the wall and his knees would’ve given in if Kare hadn’t caught him. Jess pressed a hand to her mouth and Temmin closed his eyes as he shook his head. Leia let out a slow breath as Luke gripped her shoulder tightly.

“Commander Dameron is out of danger. Once the bacta has finished its work we expect him to make a full recovery.”

**Author's Note:**

> I may torture Poe to hell and back but I won't kill him.
> 
>  
> 
> Find me [ here](http://smaragdbird.tumblr.com/) on tumblr


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